HDL cholesterol as a predictor of cardiovascular risk factors and glycaemic control: a cross-sectional observational study.

Background: HDL-cholesterol is unanimously called good chole-sterol for its atheroprotective role. Lately, studies have shown a strong alliance between HDL-cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. With this, present study aims to explore the prevalence of both high and low HDL-cholesterol levels in study population, and its association with lipid profile, fasting blood sugar, post prandial blood sugar and glycated haemoglobin levels.

Methods: This cross-sectional observational study, encompassing 2080 patients, endeavors to conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis elucidating the diagnostic and prognostic efficacy of HDL-cholesterol levels, with a specific focus on hyperalphalipoproteinemia, in the context of cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. The study meticulously categorized 746 patients into two distinct groups: those with HDL-cholesterol levels below 40 mg/dL (n = 709) and those with levels surpassing 80 mg/dL (n = 37).

Results: The study showed a comparatively low prevalence of hyperalphalipoproteinemia. Nonetheless, the study findings vindicate the concept of the detrimental effect of high levels of HDL choleste-rol on cardiovascular outcomes. Hyperalphalipoproteinemia patients showed significant difference compared to the individuals with low HDL-cholesterol presenting elevated levels of total cholesterol. High triglyceride and VLDL were seen in patients with low HDL cholesterol. Both groups revealed a high LDL-cholesterol without any significant difference. However, both the categories demonstrated almost similar disparity in the glycemic parameters to be specific FBS, PPBS, HbA1c with no significant difference.

Conclusions: High HDL-cholesterol levels are equally perilous as that of their lower levels. Hence both low & high HDL-cholesterol serves as predictor of cardiovascular risk factors and glycemic control.